Chapter #2 – You don’t mean me, do you?

Being chosen is fun unless you’re the last one picked.

I was fast but skinny. I zipped across the yard and then dangled over the arms of my opponents like a sock monkey.

I rarely broke the barrier, which meant that sometimes (okay, most times) I was picked last.

So, you grow out of that, right?

Fast forward to a small junior college. I found out a couple of weeks before the semester began that I had a tuition scholarship. I was on my own and this meant that I had a place to stay. I’d need to work a couple of jobs to pay room and board, but I could do it!

The junior college sat in a rural area surrounded by corn fields and soybeans. This city girl had little knowledge of those things or the country boys that were taking classes like Ag and Animal Science (though I later fell in love with one of them).

PE class was mandatory that first year.

It didn’t take long to see that it was Red Rover, Red Rover all over again.

The girls in the gym pounded the basketball like it was glued to their hand. They flew across the court, pausing with perfect form to shoot a lay up or a three pointer.

I went to a city school where 565 people graduated my senior year. Girls like me didn’t play basketball. Only the elite athletes got to sit on the bench. Though I liked to cheer on the game, I had never, ever been in a game, not even a pick-up game.

The college PE teacher blew her whistle and gave me a gentle shove onto the floor. I protested the whole time I skidded on the wood floor.

I’ve never played.

Ever.

I don’t know how to hit the hoop. I don’t know how to catch a pass. I don’t know how to handle the ball.

Shouldn’t there be like a pre-course on this or something?

The reality is that the majority of those attending the small agricultural college had played basketball for most of their lives. Even if they weren’t on the team, they played with friends or they learned the basics in middle school PE.

I could swim. I was great at track. I was okay at baseball.

But I didn’t have a clue how to hang with the girls who were guarding each other, fouling, and swishing the net with three pointers. It didn’t take long for the coach to see that I was pretty worthless for my team. She pulled me out before I hurt anyone or myself, and put me on the bench.

Afterwards she pulled me to the side.

You signed up for PE, right?

I did. They said it was mandatory.

You’ve never played basketball?

No, but is there another option? Maybe track?

Nope.

I didn’t go back. I didn’t withdraw from the class either. I took an I, which turned into an F.

I wish I could say that I did something wiser than that, but I was 17 years old and I just avoided it all together. If I had shown up and sat on the bench, at least I would have received a C.

Sometimes life can feel like the Red Rover game, or that you’re trying to shoot a three pointer when you don’t have a clue how to even position the ball.

We feel like we’re last. Or that we’re the worst.

Or that everybody else has it together and somehow is a better choice, even in matters of faith.

Yet this is the truth.

God knows our strengths. He knows that we are pretty clueless in some things.

He chooses us anyway.

We may not be the likely choice, but we are His choice.

Let’s talk about the invitation

What I should have said that day was, “Yes, I’m really bad at playing basketball, but I’m pretty good with words and that’s why I’m an English major.”

Yet there’s another dynamic just as important. I could have also stepped back to admire and learn from the girls who were really great at basketball.

I didn’t.

I hid. I left that day and never came back.

I may not have made a team, but I could encourage from the bench. I might have learned how to take it to the hole, or how to shoot an alley-oop. At best I could have honed my game of H-O-R-S-E.

When I felt the Lord asking me to follow him in ministry, I was just as unschooled as I was that day on the basketball court.

I had dreams. I could sling words together. I loved people.

I could also list all the things I wasn’t good at, or what seemed like weaknesses. Those early years in ministry were not wasted. They taught me.

Ministry isn’t confined to writing books or preaching or teaching a Sunday school class. It’s ministering to your neighbor or a friend, or that child in your arms. It’s prayer. It’s writing a card to someone who has experienced loss or showing up on a single mom’s doorstep with a hot meal and an offer to watch her kids for an hour or two.

We are all chosen to seek God and love people, and there’s no grade given. There’s no one who is last, or least. Instead, we get to walk with Jesus and discover all that he desires to teach us, as we grow in our faith and in our understanding of the beauty of being chosen.

Suzie

Let’s begin today’s study

Read Chapter 2

Watch the video

Begin your discussion (or journal) with the discussion prompt.

Answer or discuss the questions at the end of the chapter.

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24 Comments

Heather Walker on July 28, 2016 at 7:39 am

This message really resonates with me, Suzie. Thank you for defining what ministry can be. I do pray and was recently called to a local hospital to pray with and for a friend. I was surprised and then the Lord reminded me of another time years ago that I was called to the same hospital and unit to pray for a young man who had overdosed. He lay unconscious before his mother and I – his mother was my sponsor in Al-anon. As I prayed, he returned to consciousness and I quietly withdrew to leave mother and son, alone.

I’ve struggled so much in my life with doubt/shame and as a Christian feel as though I have failed God because I have not led anyone to Christ. On July 13th a woman approached me and asked if we could meet as she was looking for some support in handling the issues within her family. I remember wanting to run in the opposite direction like Jonah did and not understanding why she would ask me. I bowed my head and for the first time in my life, prayed, “God, in and of myself I am not wise and hardly know what is good for others when I rarely know what is good for me. I need your help in knowing how to encourage this woman.” We met and talked for two hours, after leaving the coffee shop, I extended my hand to her shoulder and prayed for her. When I got home, I received this email and was blown away by simply being available to her need. She wrote: “Thank you so much for being available to share your wisdom and to listen attentively (I did so because I felt God tell me that I would lead by listening) and for praying. I am now more at peace and can think more clearly this pm. I now know that our journeys have a lot of similarities, then I do not wallow thinking that I or my family are sunk with all the trauma when I see how many trials that you are staying with God through. You are a beautiful example of the strength that God gives to those who know they need Him.”

It blows me away that in spite of my unbelief that God works in and through me touching people with His power of love.

Wow…sometimes these early learning years really do feel wasted…discouraging. I know that God is teaching me, I know. It’s so comforting to receive wisdom from you Suzie – being ok bending and growing, understanding that God can use what I have to offer in the now. I’m thankful for the growth and continue to pray for resilience in the waiting. In the meantime, I’ll be writing thank you/sympathy/birthday notes and visiting neighbors:) Have a wonderful week!

Heather, what a wonderful story and testimony. Meg, I agree that Suzie is teaching both you and me a lot about “ministry”

So often we look for ministry in our lives to be the “big” things but that is not how God calls us. To be the hands, feet and voice of Jesus is to be able to do even the smallest of things to reach out to one of His children. I have to remind myself everyday that a word I speak to someone, might just be the encouraging word they need to keep going for the day,

Suzie I sat the bench too, but in volleyball. Your post truly resonated with me especially the latter part about the call to ministry. I most certainly feel like the least of these and marvel at all God has done in a little over a year. No one believes me when I say I have struggled with insecurity and fear so crippling it’s a wonder I have a Facebook account let alone post anything on it. Thanks for sharing the intimate and difficult moments of your life. I find it absolutely amazing what God can do with the people on the bench. Be blessed! – Kia

I am a “doer”, a “go-getter”. I like to be in control. Except in my Christian life. I feel overwhelmed and that I am not a mature enough Christian to take the lead–especially in ministry. I find comfort in the thoughts that you offered on ministry in the little things.

Susie, when the Lord called me in college to join the ministry staff of an international organization, I argued with Him. I didn’t feel equipped or ready. The organization accepted me—on probation—for their summer training. That summer I grew so much. They took me, and I’ve never looked back. Loved your blog and video today.

“Sometimes life can feel like the Red Rover game, or that you’re trying to shoot a three pointer when you don’t have a clue how to even position the ball. We feel like we’re last. Or that we’re the worst. Or that everybody else has it together and somehow is a better choice, even in matters of faith. Yet this is the truth. God knows our strengths. He knows that we are pretty clueless in some things. He chooses us anyway. We may not be the likely choice, but we are His choice.”

Yes. 😕 Just….yes. Right to my heart Suzie and right in this season. Thankful God chooses me despite ALL of my inadequacies and shortcomings! Thank you for the reminder….

A choice that didn’t make sense. I can so relate to it, because I’m very shy, introverted, and speak with an accent But God had a plan, and still does. He chose my friend and I, two of the quietest and shyest women to start a Women’s Bible Study group at our church. The group grew from 24 to over 80 women. Now we run 3 groups on different days/different times, and lives are being changed. It’s a miracle! We have heard it more than once, that people don’t understand how this ministry is stable and growing since we are both so quiet. God’s choice doesn’t make sense, but He blesses obedience and a sincere heart. I’m so grateful to God for not only choosing us, but also providing and equipping.

“We may not be the likely choice, but we are His choice.” So thankful for that simple, beautiful truth. Honestly, after the She Speaks Conference, I am HUMBLED that God would choose ME — a perfectly imperfect person — to be a vessel for His glory. What a good, good Father we have!

I love knowing that even though the world might choose us last (or never), God chose us first! He set the course of our lives in motion before our lives even began – and His Word says we were “fearfully and wonderfully made”! The God of all creation says that about YOU … and about ME. Do you know that the word for “fearfully” made is the same word that is used when the Bible says to “fear” the Lord. It doesn’t mean fear like being afraid — which only keeps us from God. It means to stand in AWE of Him. So it also means that we are set apart from all creation with awe and wonder. You … and me!

The Lord has been nudging me to reach out to the young girls of my community and invite them to study the Bible together but I dont know where to start or who with, and one doubt chases another round and round my head! All of which leading to me not having yet obeyed that nudging… please pray for me to step out of my comfort zone (and away from my fears of them not wanting to walk this road with me and my not being good enough to lead them) and into obedience!! Who to invite, what to study, how to approach them, how to find a time and place that will be ok for all involved… all questions that need answering and that I need to move beyond. I need to place my foot in His before me and walk!

Good Morning, I’m sorry I am late. I can relate to always being picked last, I was never good enough, I could run, jump, dribble, pass, climb trees, hit a baseball, just never good enough to be first. I was shy around people I didn’t I didn’t speak up. When I started my journey with Jesus, He asked me to do things I never thought I could do, some I did without question, some I asked “are you sure you want me?” Those times were when the growing happened. I joined a small group split from a church I loved, at that new, small church I learned to teach and to love it! I sang my fist solo, I prayed out loud!, in a group!! The Lord taught me many things in that small church. I was unsure about leaveing the church loved, but The Lord was sure and surely He was with me.

Joing from Encouragement for Today. This book and study look great, and this session spoke straight to my weary heart and mind. Called to do a number of things, often feeling not up to par, but He calls me anyways. 🙂 Thank you for the article and for connecting and sharing the blog and additional information.

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